Arfa Karim Shows Signs of Life

Arfa Karim has Mashallah achieved so much at a very young age and brought fame and pride to Pakistan. This little girl now is on death bed and  I pray to Almighty Allah for her complete recovery and may she fight back and bring more glory and happiness in our lives.

ISLAMABAD — Arifa Karim, Pakistan’s pride who became world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) at 9 in 2004 continues to be in critical condition in death’s icy hands at CMH hospital in Lahore since she suffered cardiac arrest on December 22.

On Friday night, however, Arifa showed signs of life a day after doctors gave up all hope for her survival and suggested switching off her life support saying there was ‘no hope’.

“Arifa started showing some brain activity and twitched her fingers, her father Lt-Col. (Retd) Amjad Karim Randhawa,” told journalists.

The youngest-ever Microsoft certified professional, however, is still in critical condition, he said.

Doctors at the hospital said she was completely normal when she suddenly had an epileptic attack and was shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Lahore. On December 28 she became unconscious and was put on ventilator. The family has been receiving calls from across the world for Arifa’s health and prayers for her recovery, her father said.

Born in 1995, Arifa became the youngest MCP in the world at the age of 9. The MCP involves building programmes into broader systems for business. Arifa was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft Headquarters in the USA when she was only 10-year-old. In August 2005, Arifa was also awarded the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology by then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. She also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award again in 2005 set up by Pakistan’s only Nobel laureate Dr Abdul Salam. She is also the recipient of the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance.

Arifa represented Pakistan on various international fora. She was invited by the IT Professionals of Dubai for a stay of two weeks in Dubai. During that trip, Arifa was presented with various medals and awards.

She also flew a plane at a flying club in Dubai at the age of 10, and received the first flight certificate. In November 2006, Arifa was invited by Microsoft to be a part of the keynote session in the Tech-Ed Developers conference held in Barcelona. The theme of the conference was “Get ahead of the game” and Arifa was presented as a true specimen of being ahead of the game. She was the only Pakistani among over 5,000 developers in that conference. – Counrtesy Khaleej Times

Bill Gates Hires Doctors for Arfa Kareem

According to her father Col Karim Microsoft contacted him and offered help. Directed by Bill Gates, the firm has hired doctors who would co-ordinate with the Pakistani doctors through vidoe conference and they may come to Pakistan if needed. Read more.

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Angelina jolie gifts waterfall to brad

“Khawab hotey hain dekhney ke liye

In main ja ker magar raha na karo ! ”

A poet said the above verse in urdu language but he may not know that “money” can buy dreams and Angelina Jolie’s gift on Brad Pitt’s birthday is an example of that! Remember those days when men used to promise impossible gifts like stars for their loved ones but todays’ lovers do have the monetary power to bring such dreams to reality. This time its not a man who has given an unconventional gift but a lady!

Angelina Jolie, the actress-director, 36, purchased a waterfall and surrounding land in California as Pitt’s combined Christmas and 48th birthday present, in order to provide him with the property for his dream home.

A source told the New York Post newspaper: “Brad has always loved Fallingwater and his first trip there was unforgettable. Angelina wanted to get him something incredibly special and, because she knows how much he loves architecture, she thought this would be perfect.

“She hopes this will be a hideaway for the family. Brad has dreamed of a home with the sound of a waterfall cascading under the house.

“Brad has always wanted to design his own house. He wants to pull all aspects of nature, light, glass and varying levels into the concept. This is the present to top all presents.”

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9/11 Memorial on Ground Zero

Where the twin towers of the World Trade Centre once stood now lies two granite pools in its footprints with waterfalls cascading 30 feet below. They one-acre size pools sprawl out across the World Trade Center plaza – one to signify each fallen tower. They are bordered by bronze panels inscribed by the names of all those who perished at the hands of terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, at the Pentagon, in New York and in Pennsylvania.

9/11 Ground Zero Memorial to open on 10th anniversery

The memorial’s designer, Michael Arad, was a young, little-known architect whose plan was selected out of 5,200 proposals. He told CBS: ‘These two acre-sized voids are like a moment of silence and what we do with that moment of silence depends on us. We just want to make sure everything is done very carefully. We’re building for the ages.’

30 feet fall at 9/11 Memorial on Ground Zero

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy: Daily Mail

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Ali Moeen Nawazish

Pakistani youth: challenges and opportunities

It is not rare to hear the phrase; “Pakistan’s future is very bright, because we have a seven crore youth population.” Most don’t even know whether the exact number is six, seven or eight! Yet, this has become part of the most widely used rhetoric about our country’s future and this rhetoric is even more prevalent on our national days. But, the problem with this assertion is quite simple, an army can have the best weapons in the world, but if it doesn’t use them properly and effectively it still loses the war.

The same is true for our youth; I would be stupid to deny the fact that our youth in a large percentage of our population (66% in fact) and that it is full of talented people who have great potential.

Yet, the problem remains the same if they and their potential isn’t used and channelised effectively there won’t not only be anything to gain but also there would be much to lose.

We must remember that, it is misguided youth caught in empty rhetoric that is donning suicide jackets, turning to crime, committing fraud and killing in places like Karachi. So what does this “proper and effective” using of their potential mean and what challenges stand in the way of doing so?

The first challenge is the education emergency that Pakistan is facing. Seven million children are missing out on primary education in Pakistan, enrolment in secondary schools stands at a mere 23% and only a mere 5% of Pakistanis make it to university. 25 million children are being denied their basic constitutional right to a free and compulsory education.

Furthermore, those who are being educated face the issue of attaining a quality education. According to the Education Emergency report, 50% of rural school children cannot read a sentence and only 35% can read a story compared to 25% of school children.

The second challenge is that of employment and economic prospects. According to the Next Generation Report, Pakistan will need 36 million more jobs in the next 10 years with our population increasing by 44% over the next 20! Our current unemployment rate stands in excess of 20%. This also partly contributes to the much talked about brain drain, because there simply isn’t enough room to accommodate a large part of our youth and what is more unfortunate that most of our talented students end up doing menial jobs abroad.

The third challenge is one that became more apparent to me over the past two weeks. Through interactions over facebook, emails, twitter and sms the level of depression, confusion, differing perspectives and the degrees of these segmentations became hauntingly clear. It is also not the varied opinions that are the challenge. Varying opinions and different beliefs are healthy and encourage diversity; however, it is the extent of blind faith and a lack of willingness to engage in dialogue, which is alarming. There seems to be no consensus on even the most basic of issues ranging from systems of governance, education and to some extent even terrorism.

The responsibility for creating and now meeting these challenges of course primarily lies with the state and its leadership, where leadership does not just mean the government, but it also includes: politicians, civil society, and the media. However, it is unfortunate that many a times the youth has just been reduced to a brand name that has been exploited by the same. The government holds one event a year, and then dismisses the youth until the next. Political parties only use young people for their street power and rallies, never including them in the decision making process. The media tries to use the youth for ratings; it calls them but by engaging them in rhetorical and conclusion-less debates only

These rhetorics lead to the hopelessness or the false hope that the youth are engulfed in today. The government needs to work on education with a solid political will and create economic opportunities. Political parties need to listen to the youth and not just exploit them, and the media needs to engage the youth in more productive debates. But what about the youth’s own role?

It is time that the youth realises its own role and tries to mark out its own path. The time for waiting for messiahs, leaders or anyone for that matter is over and we have to start addressing our issues ourselves in whatever capacity we can.

Depression in a way is a sign of good, because it shows love and a strong connection to and concern for the country.

However, at the same time depression coupled with hopelessness and very strong opinions becomes an impediment to the successful resolution of issues. Opinions are good and we hold them because they are a means to an end. We all are working towards the same end, a prosperous Pakistan, then our opinions should be formed after dialogue and though not inherited or accepted blindly.

The youth needs to come out of this endless cycle, and act. This action doesn’t mean coming out on the streets, protesting and falling prey to empty rhetorics, but on the contrary it means developing capability, capacity and competence.

If Jinnah wasn’t a lawyer, if Iqbal wasn’t a philosopher and poet, if Dr Abdul Qadeer, Dr Abdus Salam, Dr Samar Mubarak and Dr Umar Saif weren’t scientists and Babar Iqbal, Ibrahim Shahid and Zohaib Asad weren’t good students could they have done what they did for Pakistan? Education needs to be the top priority for all those who are luck enough to receive it. Only after developing themselves will the youth will be able to develop Pakistan. I am not suggesting a total disconnect from politics or the ongoing situation of the country but the right priorities, where “jalsas”, talk shows, protests and political “chaskey” come only after educational responsibilities. Those lucky enough to receive an education must not waste it and they should also encourage and follow the work of people like Master Auyb (who has been teaching children free for the past twenty years in a park).

Action for young professionals can mean trying to excel in their respective fields, to become entrepreneurs and create jobs and economic opportunities for others as well. There are so many startup companies doing well in Pakistan and there is room for a lot more. The journey isn’t going to be easy. A lot of people talk about the fact that conditions aren’t welcoming or fruitful for their purposes, but this is more or less true for everyone.

No one has ever had everything handed to him or her on a silver platter. Neither did the Prophet Muhammad SAW have the ideal conditions in Mecca to spread Islam nor did Muhammad Ali Jinnah had the ideal conditions to form Pakistan, yet they like so many others persevered and succeeded in time. Change is never overnight and it takes time, but is a worthwhile endeavour to work for.

There are many countries, which are going through or have gone through times similar to the one Pakistan is going through; Singapore, India and even the United States all come to mind.

There is light at the end of the tunnel but only if we have the will and patience to pass through. The youth of this country is undoubtedly its biggest asset and it is up to all of us to make sure it serve its purpose in the best way possible. The purpose of writing this is to not spread despair but to highlight the challenges that lie ahead and to resolve our capability of meeting those challenges, a capability, which is more than adequate only when combined with hard work and patience.

–The writer is Youth Ambassador of Geo and Jang Group

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Gone are the days when a "khat" meant "aadhi mulaqat" !

I had  forgotten the traditional style of letter writing as if it never happened to me. I am using the word happened after going through an experience last night. While searching for a lost document I bumped into an old treasure box of letters, paper cards and printed photographs….ahh those good old days.

Those cards reminded me of my childhood, my relationship with my siblings before we all got lost in different corners of this planet. Those lifeless pieces of paper brought so many living friends and memories. Those silent words spoke my friends’ languages with perfection as I could visualize all the golden moments of school and college days. I had a wonderful time with my past going through those cards and letters.

That  love and  closeness and the precious expression is all gone with a single blow of social networking. Now we see each other every day on Facebook and Twitter but the life and soul of those relations is missing. We exchange recent pictures and days to day routines but no longer touch each other’s lives. We never get to sit and talk in peace when we do not have to run for the next task or appointment. Alas! life is more like an job now. Who has the leisure of sitting and writing letters to each other? Typing a few lines in short or broken English serves the purpose of staying in touch…

I wonder do people still write and post letters in this age of email and internet. I did not write a single letter for years and yesterday I realized what I missed in all these years. I received only one or two letters and paper cards in recent past  which made me forget the happiness and bonding attached with this activity of writing and receiving letters and cards. Now eid is coming and I know there won’t be a single door bell to drop an eid card at my door step when my wall on facebook will be flooded with eid wishes!

I haven’t seen a post man in my street for a long time. The courier only delivers bills and magazines now!! Where has the “daakia” disappeared ….

Remeber the childhood rhyme…Daakia aya, daak laaya!

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Dr Umar Saif among "World’s Top Young Innovators for the year 2011"

Congratulations to Dr. Umar Saif, a professor at LUMS,  who has been recognized by MIT Technology Review amongst`World`s Top 35 Young Innovators for the year 2011 for his peer to peer file sharing software BitMate. By featuring in the list, Saif now joins an elite group of researchers and technologists including the likes of Google’s Sergey Brin and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.

MIT Technology Review selects the top innovators after a rigorous evaluation process. The judges, who are leading experts in their fields from universities such as MIT, Stanford and Harvard, consider hundreds of high-impact researchers and entrepreneurs from all over the world, out of which top 35 are chosen for the award. “This year’s group of TR35 recipients is driving the next wave of transformative technology and making an impact on the way we live, work and interact”, said Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief and publisher of the MIT Technology Review.

In the last decade, this is the first time a Pakistani has been selected for the prestigious TR35 award, says a press release issued on Tuesday. “The TR35 recognizes the world’s top 35 young innovators that are radically transforming technology as we know it. Their work – spanning medicine, computing, communications, energy, electronics and nanotechnology — is changing our world,” according to MIT Technology Review.

Dr Saif holds a BSc. from the Lahore University of Management Sciences and Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Cambridge, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar at Trinity College. Saif is a tenured associate professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan and established one of the first startup incubators in Pakistan, called the Saif Center of Innovation (SCI)^. Saif’s work on grassroots technologies received the MIT Technovator Award in 2008.

Dr Saif has won numerous awards for his innovative technology solutions for the developing-world. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2010. He is a recipient of the MIT Technovator Award, Mark Weiser Award, Digital Inclusion Award from Microsoft Research and the IDG Technology Pioneer Award. Before moving to Pakistan, Saif worked at MIT and received a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust. More.

Saif is working on some incredibly innovative start ups right now.One of his projects, SMSall.pk is like Twitter and it was fanning out at an exponential rate in Pakistan. Othe project uses mobile phone cameras to allow illiterate people to understand English. People can take pictures of English text – newspaper clippings, labels, anything – from any cell phone, MMS it to a number and they will get a call back that that reads out the text to them in Urdu.

Best of all, Pakistan need not fear losing Saif to any other country. Because he has no plans to move his home base out of Pakistan. Even though he spends some time visiting other universities to get some work done, Saif says that he is in Pakistan to stay permanently.

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fasting in Burj khalifa

Here is an interesting Fatwa for the people living on the higher floors will have delay their iftar by a few minutes. They can always go down to break their fast if they feeling hungry!!!

DUBAI: Muslims living in the world’s tallest tower will have to wait even longer to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

In a fatwa released over the weekend, the Grand Mufti of Dubai called upon Muslims living in skyscrapers, particularly those in the world’s tallest tower, to adjust their fasting and prayer times according to what floor they call home.

Dr Ahmed Al Haddad, who is also the head of the Ifta centre at the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department, said the Burj Khalifa, at more than 828 metres tall with 160 storeys, must be divided into three different times for iftar, or the breaking of the fast. He said the three segments are based on when the actual sun set is “visible” to a tenant.

“Regardless of where you are, you need to pay attention to the actual sun set,” Dr Al Haddad said. “You are not to break your fast until the sun sets, and you can actually see that sun set.”

Those living on the lower floors of the Burj Khalifa, 80 and below, are to break their fast at the same time as everyone else — when the call for Maghreb prayers at sunset is broadcast across the Dubai mosques on TV, or can be heard from the nearest mosque in the neighbourhood.

For those living on floors between 80 and 150, starting at about 414 metres high, the iftar time is delayed two minutes after the muezzin calls for Maghreb prayer. These residents are also to start praying the following Esha prayer two minutes after the call for that prayer, and two minutes before the call for Fajr prayers at dawn.

For those living on floor 150 and above, or from 800 metres and above, residents must delay their iftar by three minutes, as well as their Esha prayer. The rule applies to Fajr prayers also, which are to begin three minutes earlier than the call for prayers.

These rules should also be a guide during Suhoor time, when Muslims stay up at night to pray, and when they eat their last meals before they start their Imsak, withholding, and begin their fast with sun rise.

The ruling is based on the basic premise that the higher you are, the longer it takes for you to see the sun set because your field of vision is farther the higher you go.

The religious edict also applies to locations even higher up than any built structures. “Even if you are on a plane, you should break the fast according to when the actual sun sets over the area you are flying,” said Dr Al Haddad. “You shouldn’t break it if the sun is shining brightly where you are and hasn’t set.”

Mohammed Badr, who lives on the 61st floor of the Burj Khalifa, said he was “surprised” that elevation made a difference. “It would never cross my mind that where someone lives in a high-rise building would make a difference in fasting,” said the 37-year-old from Egypt. Since he lives below the 80th floor, he will break his fast with everyone else.

“The last two minutes before breaking a fast are tough, so I do feel bad for those living higher up,” he said.

Read More.

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PTI Leader Imran Khan

Imran Khan, my teenage crush, idol and our all time favourite captain, has a massive responsibility of handling the expectations of a nation who is let down by all the leaders in the past. Can he do it? Its a near impossible task which cannot be done alone. He should have a strong and honest team to deliver the results. I am a huge fan of Imran Khan but a reluctant supporter of the politician Imran Khan.

I wish to agree with Dr Arif Alvi when he writes about the public support enjoyed by Imran Khan “Let me sound the bugle that the tides have turned and for those who have seen or read about the Bhutto ‘sailab’, this is an emerging ‘tsunami’, as the people have found a leader they can trust and who will deliver.”

From zulfikar Ali Bhutto to my Kaptaan

By Arif Alvi was published in The Express Tribune, August 3^rd, 2011.

The crowd was pulsating as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) continued to talk about Afro-Asian solidarity. Some of us raised anti-Ayub slogans. ZAB stopped us and said ‘abhi naheen’. He was into the third hour of his first public speech after ditching his mentor and the venue was Government College Lahore. The 60s were an era of healthy debate between the left and the right. My mother insisted that I stop reading comics and novels and she thrust upon a young mind The dialogues of Plato. I graduated to Maududi, Marx and Engels to understand socialism, religion and the exploitation of man by laissez faire capitalism. Iqbal fired up a passion and pride, and Bhutto’s book The Myth of Independence gave me a nationalist perspective, though I disagreed with his political philosophy. People dislodged Ayub Khan and yours truly still carries a couple of bullets in his right arm as a memento of a people’s struggle gone awry, somewhat like Egypt of today with no real change. Our lot since then has gotten from worse to worst and beyond.

Forty years later I am travelling with Imran Khan from Lahore to Faisalabad for a PTI jalsa. His recent upsurge started from the Peshawar dharna. Karachi was the watershed where people of all ethnicities joined in to make a statement that there is a breath of fresh air in this miserable political arena. Multan was a notch higher and we reached there in time from Lahore despite many receptions on the way.

We started at 2:30 pm, planning to reach the Dhobi Ghat ground in Faisalabad at 6 pm. But it was not to be despite Imran Khans urgings, as the crowd in every village on the way had come on the roads to welcome him. There was a sea of passionate people every mile of the road we travelled.

An old man almost got trampled making it to his side of the car and with tears in his eyes exhorted Imran Khan to “save Pakistan”. Women pushed through the crowd of men, shouted greetings, and those who could not reach the car would give the traditional blessing from a distance. Huge crowds would not allow us to move despite our portable speaker announcements that tens of thousands were waiting for us in Faisalabad.

Khan blamed me for the lack of organisation and discipline in the welcoming crowds. But it was evident that the paradigm shift and tsunami which he had been predicting had arrived. It was incredible to see the rising passion of the people which gives a leader strength, but also puts on his shoulders a great burden of responsibility.

For me, this was déjà vu’ plus, from the Bhutto era. I welcomed Asghar Khan in Karachi in ’67. Then I followed Bhutto, though I disagreed with his pseudo leftist philosophy. I never forgave him his role in the breakaway of East Pakistan, but I imbibed the hope of his ‘we-will-make-a-new-Pakistan’ speech after the debacle. I admired him for his brilliant link to the people and the dignity which he gave to the common man. What has been done to his legacy is nothing short of political rape.

Mubashir Hasan and others like Rafi Raza have dissected Bhutto’s contradictions in their books and have concluded that he had two personalities which struggled within him, that of a wadera and that of an awami leader. He loved the latter but frequently succumbed to the compromises of the former. Khan has no schism. What you see is what you get. Let me sound the bugle that the tides have turned and for those who have seen or read about the Bhutto ‘sailab’, this is an emerging ‘tsunami’, as the people have found a leader they can trust and who will deliver.

Is Imran Khan the only hope left for the people of Pakistan?

Imran Khan at the Faisalabad rally

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Zardari aur Shareef

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ramadan duas

These duas are for first ten days of mercy, second ten days of seeking forgiveness from Allah and third ten days of keeping one safe from fire of hell. Lets recite and hope for Allah’s mercy to forgive us and keep us safe from the punishment of fire. Ameen.

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